Appearances
by Poohdog
Summary: Andromeda Tonks is due to have a baby in late September. But that doesn't explain why her hair keeps changing to bright colors. At work. At least she doesn't look as much like Bellatrix when her hair is blue...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Duh. I'm guessing anyone who's reading this has read the Harry Potter books by their actual author, J.K. Rowling.**

"No! I refuse to have her treating me!"

"I assure you that I will be right here to guide her and correct her if anything-"

"I don't care that she's a trainee; I just don't want her!" the young man yelled at Healer Brighid.

"She is quite competent and-"

"Well _she_ looks like _her_!" the man hollered. "You think I want to be treated by the same person who did this to me?" he insisted, indicating the bandage held around his leg to hide the deep burn caused by a curse, a curse Andromeda Tonks, only a few months ago Andromeda Black, now guessed had been caused by her sister. She cast her eyes down, trying not to look at the young Auror. A group of them had saved a muggle family from a Death Eater attack, an attack mostly for the fun of it, like most muggle killings were. It would most likely appear on the front page of the Daily Prophet, trying to breathe some hope into the fearful population.

"Then just switch us, why don't you?" called Alastor Moody, the current Auror head, from beside the other man. "Come on Tori, I'm alright with the girl," he assured the healer who was in charge of Andromeda, Victoria Brighid. "Just as long as something gets done here." Moody glared at the healer who was supposed to be fixing his arm but was instead staring at the scene playing out next to him.

Andromeda looked up at Moody. She guessed he was perhaps somewhere in his forties or fifties though it was hard to tell with his scars. The younger Auror had shut his mouth and was looking rather ashamed after Moody's scolding. Nonetheless, Tori signaled to the healer who was about to treat the Moody to switch them places. "Don't mind him lass," Moody assured her, motioning toward the younger Auror. "I know you're not your sister. Even if Fabian's being an ass. He's still wet behind the ears, that one."

"Thank you," she told him, feeling rather embarrassed still. She reached out for his arm which had been cursed. Someone had already given him something for the pain. At the same time she looked at the folder next to him. It was already quite thick.

"Didn't know you were planning to be a healer," Moody continued. He looked down at her stomach. "Or that you were pregnant."

"You've met her before Alastor?" the other Auror asked, a mixture of surprise and scorn in his voice. Andromeda flinched. She didn't want to remember the first time she'd met Alastor Moody, just back in January. He had questioned her after she and her husband, then still her fiancé, had come into St. Mungo's after being hurt by Andromeda's family. It had been the last time she had seen her older sister and her two younger cousins. Only three years ago, the three of them had been some of her closest companions.

Pushing the thoughts away, Andromeda turned to Tori. "Scouring solution, right? To clean it? Rather than a spell, I mean, because we don't know what hex it was and-"

"That's right," the older woman replied. "Accio Scouring Solution," she called out, the potion rushing across the room and into her hands. "And the same goes for actually healing the cut. We're going to have to use potions rather than spells if possible."

"I hate that stuff," the Moody grumbled, eyeing the bottle with a glare.

"Then I'd advice a change in careers," Tori told him lightheartedly. Moody muttered under his breath and then turned back to Andromeda as she took his hairy, wounded arm, in her hands, turning it over to look at the cut clearly.

"When are you due?" he asked gruffly, looking back at her stomach again.

"I'm _due_ for the end of this shift in half an hour," Andromeda told him snidely. She held on to his wrist with her left hand, keeping it tilted the way she wanted it and picked up the bottle with Scouring Solution in her right hand.

"She's due in late September," Tori told him. Andromeda glared over at her mentor. "There's nothing personal about your life when you're a trainee. Haven't I told you that?"

"Why does he need to know?" she complained as she gently let drops of the potion fall on Moody's arm along the cut. Moody grimaced in pain.

"So that would mean she was pregnant in January?" he panted, as Andromeda threw him a look of apology for the potion.

"Yes," Tori answered.

"I should hope there are some things personal about my life," Andromeda glowered.

"Alright, you can keep what you do in the bedroom with your husband personal. If the results start to grow under your robes, however, you lose said privilege," Tori told her. Andromeda threw Tori a look of disgust as the younger Auror and his healer both snorted.

"Oh shut-it, Jim," she growled at the healer treating the younger Auror.

"Hey, Tori, your trainee's-"

"You stay out of her personal life," Tori scolded him. "Just because you aren't officially in training anymore doesn't mean you can pick on the trainees." Jim huffed as Andromeda smirked. The younger Auror shook his head.

"You guys really have same hierarchy here as we have in the Auror department, don't you?" he asked. Jim nodded as Andromeda fought to resist the urge to stick out her tongue. "Although it is everybody's business if one of us gets pregnant. Then they have to be taken off regular duty."

"Speaking of being taken off regular duty, it would be best if you learned not to judge people based on their appearances," Moody barked at him. "You'll occasionally lose some good help and more importantly, ignore too many enemies until it's too late if you're only judging by looks." His eyes fixed back on Andromeda's. "Why don't you tell him who your husband is," he told her. She was holding his arm in both hands, pushing it together along the sides of the wide cut.

"Ted Tonks," she answered absently as she slid her left hand over the cut and pulled her wand out of her pocket with her right, using it to conjure a bandage and wind it tightly around Moody's arm to hold it together. The younger Auror blinked for a moment before his eyes grew wide.

"He was in my sister's year. He's a muggle-born."

"I'm well aware," Andromeda told him, rolling her eyes. "Somewhere between his not knowing what jobs were out there for a wizard and his laughing at me for not knowing what a telephone was, I grasped the concept."

"So how did that happen?" he asked, glancing at her stomach. "I thought your older sister was the 'experimenter' of you three," he said with a smirk. Andromeda glared at him, her face beginning to heat up, as she felt the baby beginning to move. The Auror and Jim began to chuckle.

"Prewett!" Moody scolded him. "Just because you can't get anyone who has known you more than two days into your bed, doesn't mean you need to discuss the lives of people who can." For a moment Prewett looked ashamed, but Jim suddenly started laughing harder and then so did the Prewett. Andromeda saw Tori glance at her and then smile, trying to hide her laughs behind her hand. Moody raised his eyebrows.

"Did my hair change again?" Andromeda asked Tori dryly. She nodded in agreement as Andromeda pointed her wand at her head and muttered the spell to change it back under her breath before turning back to Tori. She shook her head.

"It's still blue." Andromeda sighed and undid the clip holding back her bangs. Her hair was a dark blue. Again she tried the same spell. There was no effect. "That one's worn out too?" Tori asked.

"You're still having trouble with accidental magic?" Prewett asked her, raising an eyebrow. "I mean I know sometimes witches have trouble with it during the first three months. Molly said she did but then again she might just have been looking for an excuse for why she hexed me," he said thoughtfully. "But you're definitely passed that." Andromeda ignored him and walked over to the cabinet where a lot of potions were held and Tori followed her, standing just behind her. Andromeda bit her lip and shook her head to say she didn't know what she needed to grab as she felt the baby settle back down. Tori reached passed her and grabbed a rectangular bottle with a purple potion in it, placing it in Andromeda's hands.

"Stupid hair," Andromeda muttered to herself. Tori grinned at her and gave her a slight shove back towards Moody.

"It'll get better," she assured her.

"When?" Andromeda mumbled as she slipped back over by Moody. Tori glanced up at her hair.

"At this rate, probably late September, early Octoberish," Tori told her. Andromeda sighed. Two more months of having her hair change with her emotions was going to be torture.

"Can I have your arm again please?" Andromeda asked Moody. He held it out and she took it by his wrist again. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jim and Prewett walking away.

"Just drip it on to the bandage where the cut is," Tori instructed, standing just behind Andromeda. She nodded and followed her directions, watching as the purple potion slipped through the bandage. When spots of violet began to show through, Tori grabbed Andromeda wrist to tell her to stop. Andromeda stepped back, putting the top back on the vial as Tori began to remove the bandage. "Not even a very big scar Alastor," Tori was telling him when Andromeda came back.

"Am I allowed to go then?" he asked gruffly.

"I'll take you to get you checked out. Again," Tori replied. "Andromeda, I want you to go to my office and wait for me once you've cleaned up here, please. Leave Jim's mess." She nodded as Moody and Tori left the ward, talking to each other. Andromeda put away the potions and stripped the bed Moody had sat on. After using a charm on the table next to the bed where they had been setting potions and things, she left the ward for Tori's office. It was only about a minute before her trainer came back from showing Moody out of the hospital. "Fabian Prewett reminded me of something," she said as she sat down at her desk. Andromeda sat down in one of the two chairs across from her desk. "I wanted to ask you if there was any history of multiple births in your family."

"No," Andromeda said worriedly, looking at her stomach. "I'm not that big am-"

"No, you're normal for seven months. I just don't know for sure what to make of the fact that your hair is still changing. You didn't have a hard time controlling your magic before you got pregnant, did you?"

"No more than any other witch. I think the last time I lost control before was when I was fourteen. I was woke up late and was hurrying to class when I forgot to skip a step and got my leg caught in it. I got mad and accidentally exploded it." Andromeda shook her head. "Did more harm to me than good. I kept finding splinters for a week." Tori sighed.

"I'm at a loss to explain it then."

"Do you think something's wrong?" Andromeda asked worriedly, her hand coming to rest on her stomach. Tori shook her head.

"My guess is that it's some interaction between your hormones and your magic," she said. "But frankly, I don't know what. The baby seems to fine and you seem fine. It's just curious. I'd be interested to see what would happen if you got pregnant again."

"That's not going to happen for a long while if ever, thank you," Andromeda replied curtly. "Ted and I had the talk about kids after I found out I was pregnant and discovered that both of us wanted to wait until the war was over then consider having kids. Obviously, by then it was too late." Tori snorted.

"That'll teach you not to be forgetful." Andromeda rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, lesson learned." She looked at her huge stomach. "Lesson learned all too well."

**For anyone who's wondering, this is a story that takes place after The Call. I'm going to be adding another couple chapter type things. Thanks to Emiliana Keladry ****for fixing my grammar in this chapter! **


	2. Chapter 2

**If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing this on when I could sell it to a bunch of obsessed Potter fans (like myself) for a load of money or for a charity.**

"I need you to go and get Draught of Depression," Tori had told her. It was stored further down from the ward where they were. Someone had majorly overdosed on self-given Cheering Charms and had apparently spent the last twenty-four hours laughing manically until they had been brought into the hospital by a friend. Since the potion with the opposite effect, the Draught of Depression, could be quite devastating if given to someone at the wrong time, whoever placed it in the bottle, made the bottle un-summonable. Andromeda had been told to play gopher-girl and was now walking back through the hallway with the deep black potion, a slight cold seeming to creep through the bottle and into her fingers. And suddenly she stopped, gasping and leaned against the wall, pressing one hand over her stomach, the other holding the bottle loosely dangling from her fingers. Her two hours were up. She would have to take the pain-relieving potion again as soon as she got the bottle to Tori. And this one hurt far more than the first one had, back when she had taken the potion when she came into work this morning. Breathing heavily, and confident it was finished, Andromeda moved further along the hallway and back into the ward where Tori was waiting.

"What took you so long?" she called, over the hysterical laughter of the young woman seated on a bed beside her. The woman had short, curly reddish-brown hair that was completely uncombed and uncared for at the moment. Her friend had come by to check on her after he returned from a trip because he'd heard that her parents had been killed in a recent Death Eater attack. She had apparently tried to treat her sadness with a charm but, not being in a completely right state of mind, hadn't been able to achieve the effect she'd been after.

"I got held up in the hallway," Andromeda answered, not wanting to tell Tori the truth just yet. She knew first labors usually took hours and she would prefer not to be sitting around doing nothing. Instead she decided to mask the pain with a potion while she kept on working. Andromeda handed the Draught of Depression to Tori, who pulled a set of measuring spoons out of a pocket in her robes. She opened the potion flask and poured out a tiny amount.

"We may have to immobilize her in order to get her to take it," Tori commented. Andromeda nodded and pulled out her wand, stopping the young woman. The sudden quiet that came when her laughter dispelled seemed deafening. She watched as Tori poured the tiny amount of potion down the woman's throat and then lifted the spell. The woman's laughter had subsided into feeble giggling.

"Do we have to give her more?" Andromeda asked.

"No, we should probably be able to just give her some peppermint. The potion can be very dangerous in larger amoun-" Andromeda clutched the table harshly as the pain began to move through her again. It was supposed to be more spaced out than this.

"What's wrong?" Tori asked hurriedly, her eyes firmly on Andromeda. "Andromeda what's-" she stopped, taking in the image as Andromeda clutched at her stomach. "How long have they been going on?"

"They started this- this morning but I took a potion for it," Andromeda managed, hoping it would desist soon. Tori was listening to her but was summoning a sprig of peppermint. "It must have worn out."

"When was the last one?" Tori asked while the peppermint she had summoned came rushing into her hand.

Andromeda nodded, breathing harshly for a moment before managing to speak. "Out in the hall- hallway." Tori handed over the peppermint to the curly-haired woman.

"Chew on this for me," she instructed the red-head. Still giggling, the woman nodded and took it from her. "Andromeda, that's less than seven minutes ago."

"I'd realized," she growled through clenched teeth.

"What are you still doing here?" Tori asked as though she were stupid.

"I thought first times were supposed to take longer."

"Usually," Tori stressed. "Usually they take longer. But I'm guessing that you were nearly late again and got ready in about fifteen minutes or less, didn't you?" Andromeda nodded meekly. "It's quite possible you went into labor in your sleep but since you're a deep sleeper you didn't wake. Anyway, let's get you out of here. Ackerley!" she called out to another healer who was walking by. "Do you have anything going on?"

"Not at the moment. I was just headed down to the front desk," he admitted.

"Could you take over here? She overdid a Cheering Charm and she's had a small amount of the Draught of Depression and is chewing on some peppermint," Tori told him, glancing over at the giggling girl.

"I suppose so. What's wrong?" he asked, looking over the situation. Andromeda straightened up, beginning to breathe normally again.

"My trainee here just went into labor," she answered jabbing a thumb in Andromeda's direction. Andromeda felt she would have blushed if her face didn't already feel a bit flushed. Jim Ackerley laughed, much to Andromeda's distaste.

"Alright then," he agreed as Tori grabbed Andromeda's arm and pulled her from the room. "Congratulations!" he called out after them.

"Are you Flooing someone to your house or going to the clinic in Diagon Alley?" Tori asked as she kept pulling on Andromeda's arm.

"Diagon Alley," Andromeda answered.

"Is Ted at your house or at work?"

"Work."

"Okay, I'll Floo him for you once you're through the fireplace," Tori said as they reached her office. She gave Andromeda a smile and squeezed her shoulder. "Good luck."

"Good luck?" Andromeda asked. Tori didn't say anything more. She just pulled a square box off her desk and handed it over. It was filled with green powder. Andromeda sighed and reached out to grab some. Tori suddenly jerked it back.

"Go to the clinic, not home. Ted can bring you what you need later and wearing your robes from here might give you some clout. Got it?" Andromeda nodded and Tori let her take a handful. She threw it on to the flames and called out the name of the clinic, wishing there were some way she could avoid spinning in the flames to get there.

Andromeda nearly tripped as she arrived. The waiting room was not at all to her taste; it was far too frilly and pink. She saw three groups sitting in the waiting room in front of the desk where a pretty brunette witch around Andromeda's age was writing something with a quill, but she looked up when Andromeda came through the Floo. Then she turned back to her writing before Andromeda even got to the desk. "Um, hello?" Andromeda greeted uncertainly.

"One second," she replied dully. Andromeda opened her mouth to retort but got cut off right as the pain returned again. Her hands gripped on to the desk, hoping the witch at the desk would pay some bit of attention. Nothing. Behind her, Andromeda became vaguely aware of the sound of someone coming out of the fireplace and someone walking behind her. Suddenly, the witch at the desk looked up and grinned. "Hi there, you lost?" the girl at the front asked, her eyes fixing on the person behind Andromeda.

"Wotcher," Ted's voice returned distractedly. "I've got her file. Tori said she forgot to hand it to you," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"No," Andromeda replied sharply, glaring at a spot on the desk.

"Are you the father?" the witch at the desk asked incredulously.

"Yes," Ted sighed.

"Really?" she questioned, getting to her feet.

"Yes," Ted replied shortly as Andromeda began to relax again. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

"I've been better," she told him, a little short of breath. She looked up to find that the girl had returned to writing something. It was just then that a woman came from down the hallway and her eyes narrowed a slight bit as the took in Ted's dirt covered face, hands, and robe then glared deeper at the girl sitting at the desk.

"Nessie!" she scolded.

"I was just finish-" the girl began to argue but the woman wasn't listening.

"How far along?" she asked Andromeda.

"Forty-one weeks."

"Post-term. Your file?" she asked, pointing to it.

"Yes." The older witch grabbed it off the desk where Ted had laid it and opened it.

"Andromeda Tonks?"

"Yes."

"Eighteen, nineteen in November." Andromeda nodded. "Your hair's been," she glanced upwards, "changing like that since your third month?" Ted nodded at her. Her eyes were drawn to him.

"Father?"

"Yes," he replied in exasperation. Andromeda grimaced again as the pain came back. She felt Ted's arms around her, trying his best to support her.

"Come," the older witch said. "Nessie, pay attention!" she hollered back at the witch at the desk as she led the way down the hallway. She was about halfway down when she came to an open door and walked inside, holding out her hand. "Wand."

"No," Andromeda answered, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"What?" Ted asked. The witch's eyes shot to him again.

"You can give it to him. But you'll eventually be glad you don't have it," she said to Andromeda, her eyes still on Ted. "Scourgify!" she went on without a break, pointing her wand at Ted. He made a face as he wiped at his nose with the back of his hand. "Wand," she persisted. Andromeda pulled it out of the pocket of her robes and handed it over to Ted. He placed it carefully into his pocket. The witch stepped out of the doorway, letting them into the room and letting the door close behind her. Andromeda looked around. She saw a bed. She saw a small crib. She saw the woman in light pink robes who she didn't know. Suddenly, the idea of giving birth seemed very, very strange and unpleasant. Whose brilliant idea was this birth concept anyway? Why couldn't Ted do it instead? After all, she was only eighteen and he was twenty.

"He's older than me!" she said suddenly, pointing at Ted. The woman stared at her strangely and Ted rubbed her shoulders.

"That has nothing to do with it," the woman replied shortly. "He is male."

Drat.

Okay, so maybe the maternity witch had known what she was doing. Andromeda had to admit she had wanted to hex Ted about ten times. He still hadn't dared to give her back her wand, not that she had the energy to use it right now anyway. She didn't even have the energy to sit up straight. Cautiously, torn between a fear of getting hexed and his natural curiosity, Ted had sat down next to her on the bed. Andromeda was leaning against him, her eyes feeling very heavy, even as she looked at the baby girl in her arms. The maternity witch had left the room not long after their daughter was born. There was no reason for her to stay on constant watch; Andromeda's little girl was perfect. Perfect tiny hands and feet, perfect nose, perfect mouth, perfect eyes and tummy, Andromeda could go on forever but most importantly, she had perfect health. After all of the chaos that had gone on in Andromeda's life since her conception, that baby girl still pulled through without any physical problem.

"She's pretty," Ted said quietly before he kissed Andromeda's recently sweaty forehead. One of his arms was around his wife, and the other was brushing up against the cheek of his daughter or playing with her fingers. "Really pretty."

"Mmm," Andromeda agreed sleepily, feeling herself slipping downward in the bed. Ted chuckled lightly as he pulled his arm out from behind her and reached out to take the baby.

"Dromeda?" he asked after a moment.

"Hm?" she questioned.

"Her hair's red."

"Brown," Andromeda told him. "It was brown."

"It was. Now it's red. Look," he told her, turning his body so she could better see her daughter's head. There it was, a gingery reddish color. Andromeda pushed herself upward in the bed again, staring at the hair.

"Did you change it when I wasn't looking?"

"No," Ted answered with a slight chuckle. Andromeda held out her arms and Ted slipped the baby gently back into her arms. Her steel grey eyes looked around, unfocused but somehow seeming to like looking at her mother. Her hair was indeed orange.

"Ted, close your eyes for a long time and see if it seems like her hair changes," Andromeda instructed. Ted gave her a confused look.

"Aren't you supposed to be better at the whole colors thing than I am? I'm a guy or did you forget that again?"

"If I close my eyes, I'm going to fall asleep," Andromeda insisted. Ted cocked his head to the side and grinned to say he understood then his eyes focused on his daughter's head for a moment before he closed them. She saw him moving his eyes underneath his eyelids before starting to whistle. She smiled at him and shook her head, knowing he couldn't see her. Then he began to walk around in a circle, and Andromeda gave a small snort. Ted opened his eyes and smiled at her before looking back at their baby's head. He grinned.

"Could be just me, but it looks a little blonder."

"So it could still be changing?" Andromeda asked him. "I didn't know it was supposed to change that fast."

"It doesn't in muggle kids," Ted told her, sitting down on the edge of the bed, his feet still on the floor.

"Wizards either. Sirius and Regulus's hair didn't change at all," she told him.

"Maybe it's just because your hair kept changing," Ted suggested. Andromeda nodded a little as she blinked. It took her a second to open her eyes again. Ted gave a slight chuckle and then slid off the bed. "Go to sleep Dromeda," he told her, leaning down and kissing her forehead. "I don't think you're going to have an easy time catching up on it for a while," he added as he gently took the baby from her arms. Andromeda fell asleep to the sight of her husband holding her daughter in his arms, a silly sort of grin on his face.

**So I intended to squeeze how Nymphadora got saddled with the name Nymphadora (which is still loads better than Reneesme) in this chapter but instead it's in the next one because this got longer than I intended.**

**Hope you liked this chapter. Thanks again to Emma for betaing my grammar and spelling, and thanks to everybody who reviewed the last chapter!  
**


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